What Do Programmatic Guaranteed Deals Offer Advertisers?

Programmatic guaranteed deals are exclusive advertiser-publisher one-on-one deals where advertisers can purchase ad inventory from publishers directly. The advertiser agrees to pay a fixed price for a fixed number of impressions, and once the deal is closed, the publisher saves the ad inventory exclusively for the advertiser in question.

There has been a shift towards advertising preferring to buy ads programmatically in recent years. According to Statista, programmatic advertising spend in the UK is forecast to reach 40.47 billion US dollars in 2026 (32 billion pounds).

Programmatic guaranteed ad buying is also known as ‘programmatic direct’ since it doesn’t involve an auction bidding process.

Carry on reading as we discuss programmatic advertising and our insights into what programmatic guaranteed offers advertisers.

How Do Programmatic Guaranteed Deals Work? 

In a programmatic guaranteed deal, an advertiser’s DSP will analyse each impression. Advertisers are then supplied with data telling them which audience/s an impression correlates to, and the impressions that align well with the advertiser’s audience will display the advertiser’s ad automatically.

With programmatic guaranteed deals, the price and all audience-related factors are fixed and agreed upon before the deal is finalised. 

The Benefits of Programmatic Guaranteed

Let’s now take a closer look at the benefits of programmatic guaranteed for advertisers. 

Gives Advertisers More Control

When launching a new ad campaign, you will want to lay out certain expectations before spending money, and this could include the number of impressions, CPM, etc. In programmatic guaranteed deals, you agree on fixed prices to allow you to plan your campaign efficiently and remove the potential for any hidden extra costs.

Are you an advertiser after more control? Programmatic guaranteed deals could work for you. 

Here Drovo, we are also big on giving advertisers and brands back more control and transparency over their OOH transit media campaigns. 

Our proprietary live tracking dashboard provides you with access to key real-time data such as impressions and distance driven by each vehicle that give you vital insights into your taxi campaign’s performance. Check out the Drovo vehicle tracking dashboard below.

Looking to make a major impact in your outdoor campaigns? Our transit media campaigns certainly make an impression on street-level audiences wherever they go. That’s why Drovo has worked with prestigious brands including American Express, Deliveroo, Paco Rabanne, Hyatt, Steve Madden, and more.

The Ability to Access Vital Data Before Agreeing a Deal

Before entering into a deal, it can be useful for advertisers to have reassurances. You get access to the following data before entering into programmatic guaranteed deals: 

• Rankings
• Impressions
• Prices
• Dates

Improved Audience Targeting 

Looking at a publisher’s available inventory, you will have control over choosing where and when your ads are shown. Are you unable to see ad spaces that suit your target audience? Find another publisher that is better matched to your target audience. 

The Efficiency of Programmatic Guaranteed Deals

Ad auctions can take a long time. But programmatic guaranteed deals are more time-efficient, and this frees up your time to make your campaign as creative and attractive as possible for your target audiences.

Research from the Boston Consulting Group (BSG) concluded that publishers save 57% more time and agencies/advertisers 29% with programmatic guaranteed deals.

The Downsides of Programmatic Guaranteed Deals for Advertisers

Let’s now take a closer look at the downsides of programmatic guaranteed deals for advertisers.  

Lack of a Benchmark Price 

There is no benchmark price to work from. Do your research on average market prices for your ad inventory and target audience to avoid overpaying and denting your campaign revenues.

Obligation to Buy

Do your homework before entering into a programmatic guaranteed deal. Once a deal has been made, that’s it, it’s done, the price is fixed and advertisers are obliged to buy the available inventory.

Programmatic Guaranteed vs Private Marketplace

A Private Marketplace (PMP) deal is an invitation-only private auction where a publisher invites a set group of buyers to bid for an inventory. This differs from the one-on-one deal that takes place with programmatic guaranteed deals.

In a Private Marketplace auction, the highest bidding advertisers will win the ad inventory. Whereas with programmatic guaranteed deals, negotiations take place beforehand and the price is pre-arranged and fixed. 

Preferred Deals 

Preferred deals in programmatic direct ad buying enable publishers to provide private ‘first look’ access to their ad impressions for selected advertisers.

Advertisers that have struck a preferred deal with a publisher have the option to purchase the specific ad impressions agreed upon in the deal before the impressions are then pushed to a Private Marketplace or open auction. For this reason, this stage of the preferred deals process is also known as the ‘right of first refusal’.

You now should understand more about the programmatic ad buying process today and what programmatic guaranteed deals offer advertisers. We get programmatic advertising and embrace its ability to raise the efficiency of OOH advertising.